Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Winning the lottery once in a lifetime is pretty lucky. Winning the lottery twice in the same day? Virginia Fike is one of the few people that can describe that feeling.

The Berryville, Va., resident had two tickets that matched five of the six Powerball numbers in an April 7 drawing so that each ticket was worth $1 million.

"I'm in shock!" Fike said in a news release from the Virginia lottery.

In early April, Fike stopped at an Olde Stone Truck Stop in Virginia with her numbers ready and purchased two tickets.

"I picked numbers based on my parents' anniversary and their ages at that time, divided by the year they were married," Fike said in the release. "I just love the jackpot games and I play when I can afford it."

The jackpot that week was at $80 million. In order to win the jackpot, the ticket holder has to match the five numbers and the sixth Powerball number.

After the drawing, it was announced that no one had won the jackpot, but 14 people nationwide had matched five of the numbers and were entitled to $1 million prizes each. Two of the winning tickets were in Virginia.

Pike was in the hospital keeping her mother company.

"I saw a scroll on TV about there being two $1 million winners. I looked at my mom and said 'Wouldn't it be funny if it was us?'" she said.

When she stopped by a convenience store, Pike had the clerk check her tickets and she discovered that she had won both of Virginia's $1 million prizes.

Per Virginia state lottery rules, winners split the jackpot, regardless of how many there are, but non-jackpot prizes from matching part of the winning sequence are not split and can be won multiple times.

"It's not that uncommon for people to buy tickets in games with the same number, but this is the biggest prize we've ever had in Virginia of two tickets in the same drawing," Virginia Lottery spokesman John Hagerty told ABCNews.com.

Pike was presented with a check for $2 million on Friday at the truck stop where she purchased the ticket. Winners in Virginia are required to come forward and be identified. She will receive $1.4 million after taxes. The store also received a $200,000 bonus for selling the two winning tickets.

Pike did not respond to a request for comment from ABCNews.com.

For now, Virginia's newest millionaire is basking in her shocking win.

"I must be dreaming," Pike said. "I look forward to helping to take care of my parents and paying some bills."

Friday, April 20, 2012

A substitute teacher in New Jersey has been suspended after being accused of telling a seven-year-old girl that she was “too sexy” to take gym.

Marco Inskip, a substitute physical education teacher at Charles L. Spragg Elementary School in Egg Harbor City, N.J., allegedly told a second grade student Monday that she was “too sexy” to take gym, according to John Gilly, Superintendent of the Egg Harbor City School District. The girl’s father, Henry Wilson, has since filed a harassment complaint with the Egg Harbor City police.

The girl told teachers in the cafeteria after the incident that Inskip had made an inappropriate comment. When describing the comment at first, she was too embarrassed to say the word “sexy,” Gilly said.

“She was upset when it happened,” Wilson said. “She took it as a regular bad word. She didn’t know if there was any context behind it. She was just upset that she was cursed out so to speak by a teacher.”

The second grader was wearing school-appropriate clothing and has never had issues in school before, Wilson said.

“She’s just a regular seven-year-old little girl,” Wilson said.

When initially questioned, Inskip denied saying the student was “too sexy,” Gilly said. He said he simply called her “cute.” Inskip is now suspended from the district’s substitute teaching list, Gilly said.

“He was a substitute and we saw how upset the parent was, and the child,” Gilly said. “Even though he did admit that he said ‘cute,’ not ‘sexy,’ at this point it didn’t matter.”

“We decided to cut the losses, make the clean break, and say you are finished with us at this point in our school district.”

Inskip first served as a substitute in the district on Oct. 31, Gilly said. He originally came from the Source for Teachers, a company the district uses when it needs more substitute teachers. After working for the district several times, he asked to be put on the district’s own list, Gilly said. Inskip became an approved substitute for the district on Dec. 14.

Inskip has only one other previous incident, Gilly said. In January, a parent complained that the substitute teacher had cursed during a physical education class. Inskip denied to administrators that he had used profanity. He could not be reached by ABCNews.com for comment.

Even though he is suspended from the Egg Harbor City School District, he can still substitute in other districts, Gilly said. But the criminal charges are now up to the courts, he said.

“If another school wants to hire him, that’s fine,” Wilson said. “I just want them to be aware that he made an inappropriate comment like this.”

The district will review Inskip’s case at the next Board of Education meeting in May.